WoT Gamescom Q&A

Fisch: Will there be unified Premium Accounts (currency and time) for all Wargaming games?

A: We already have unified Premium Accounts for our PC “World of” titles, so all fans of these games can purchase Premium Account safe in the knowledge that the amount is shared between them. As for the in-game currency, we have considered it, but it is difficult to introduce unified currencies in different MMO projects because they all have different life cycles and economies, so for the time being we plan to keep these separate.

John: Why do I only get 3-4 maps out of over 40+ during a single play session?

A: We made several changes in version 9.14 which were intended to increase the variety of maps available to players, and judging by the actual user stats these changes have been successful. We are continuing to look into potential cases where players may encounter a limited variety of maps and will continue to address those when we find them. It is worth noting that if players filter their random battle types in the settings they will cut down on the potential map variety, as not all modes are available for all maps.

SpectralWalrus: Why are you removing maps from the game completely instead of reworking them?

A: Most of the removed maps are being reworked, so sooner or later we may bring them back.

Claudio_ITA: When will the Italian tech tree be introduced to World of Tanks?

A: Right now our historians are researching European tank-building schools: things such as Czechoslovakian, Polish, Italian, Swedish, and Hungarian tanks. We had more luck with the Swedish tree and there are already 19 vehicles to fill two full branches, so we are aiming to release the nation by the end of the year. As for Italian tanks, they will not be released in 2016, but we hope that we will be able to introduce them in the future.

qqAxeL: Why did you guys make the matchmaking +/- 2 Tiers with normal tanks and +/-3 with scouts? I think it is not fair sometimes.

A; We believe there are a number of ways we can improve our matchmaking. At the moment we are working on a new version of the matchmaker, which will solve our current problems with the team balance. You can expect to see us doing some public testing of this new matchmaking solution later this year.

Alegzandar: Will you apply the same anti cheat system as used in the RU servers?

A: We have been reviewing our anti-cheat situation overall and are committed to continually improving things for our community. We will continue to evolve how we handle cheating in all regions.

RicoPro22: Have you considered operating an official mod store so that you can assure that they are virus-free?

A: Yes, we have definitely considered it. We love our mod-making community and we want to make it easier for players to use mods (while at the same time protecting the players from cheat mods). We are looking into a number of options right now and when we finalise our plans, we will be sure to update everyone.

faros78: Are you planning on adding more Tiers to World of Tanks like Tier XI and XII?

A: For now there are no such plans. We are working hard to improve the core gameplay: the matchmaker, vehicle balance, core mechanics, interfaces and so on.

Angel_Arrow: Can we expect weather effects similar to the console version to come to World of Tanks PC?

A: Recently we moved to a new version of Direct X and now the development team is working to improve our in-game visuals and performance, and weather is one of the things we are looking at. However, there is nothing to announce yet.

KyllerX7_: There are some rumours about an upcoming World of Tanks with modern Tanks, named World of Tanks 2.0 – are these rumours true?

A: Just rumours: We are still fully committed to World of Tanks and have a huge team continuing to work on new updates, features, and content for it!

Good_Looking_Corpse: Do Wargaming have any plans to change personal missions in the future to try and prevent mission rigging?

A: Definitely: We are working on it right now – not only are we working on the missions themselves, but also on both the Garage and in-battle interfaces to make them more user friendly and easier to track.

Johnville: Is the T25 pilot number 1 going to replace the T26E4, a.k.a the SuperPershing, if it is ever to be released, possibly in the upcoming months?

A: We have special plans for the T25 Pilot tank – stay tuned!

Damage_inc: Will the iconic Tiger 131 be coming to the game and if so for which Tier?

A: We don’t have any plans to make any announcements on the topic of specific, individual tanks right now. For the moment, we are focusing on the new Swedish tech tree.

Elad_Israel: Is there a chance we will see Israeli tanks in the game?

A: We have no plans to introduce them in the near future. It would be quite hard to create a full tree of ten Tiers, but we are continually researching options.

Youwillneverwalkalone: How long does it usually take to create a map in World of Tanks?

A: It depends on the scale and setting: If we are talking about a completely new setting with all new objects, it could take up to 9 months for the full cycle including map creation and testing. If we reuse objects, the process could be shorter, like 6 months.

don’t_panic2: When will you finally rebalance Artillery?

A: We are working on this right now, and we have a number of prototypes that need testing. Players already saw one of them on the Sandbox test server. We want this class to fulfil its role and not be a toxic class for other players.

demidieu12: Hello developers. When will the modes Domination, Rampage and the personal missions be back in the game? Thanks in advance for the answer!

A: Thanks for the question! We will definitely use some of the mechanics that were introduced in these modes. We have been considering ways to rework the modes themselves, but we have no plans to re-release them at the moment, because we are focusing on the core gameplay and the improvement of random battles.

tinade29: I would like to know when is Wargaming going to make Strongholds more dynamic? The project feel unfinished and dropped.

A: Work is going on to improve Strongholds and make them much more interesting to play. We don’t have a set date to announce yet, but stay tuned!

starfighter44: Why when we are in a platoon do we not start on the same position on the map? Especially in assault mode, it doesn’t make sense to have to cross the map to play with your friends.

A: Good thought – we’ll look into it.

tizzos24: It would be nice to see medals, ribbons, or actions display in battles the same way they are available in-game for World of Tanks Console and World of Warships. It would help to know when we hit a tank or destroyed an enemy and would improve the gameplay. Thanks for your time!

A: As part of version 9.15.1, we just moved to the ActionScript 3 platform, which will allow us to further improve both the Garage and the battle interfaces. There will be UI and UX improvements with every upcoming update. We appreciate the feedback!

DerEiserne: Is there going to be a unified clan chat where you can add sub-clans in the same way we currently have the regular clan chat (not closeable, not a regular chat channel and configurable by clan commanders)?

A: We are reviewing some options for reworking the chat and we’ll consider this, however it’s not in our current plans at the moment.

KommandeurT72: Are there any plans to make the WT auf E100 available again?

A: There are some ideas, but nothing detailed yet.

Juliusz_97: Are you planning to expand the British, German or American tech trees?

A: Potentially, but it’s not where our content builders are focused right now. For the moment, we’re hard at work getting ready to release our Swedish tree.

Kamil11101: Are there any plans to factor in the manufacturing quality when calculating penetration chances? Steel of the same thickness had different properties depending on how good the production process was.

A: No, our penetration mechanic is already a pretty deep system, accounting for armour thickness, angling, shell types, velocity, and falloff. We don’t want to make things harder for our players to understand by adding another variable that would be difficult for players to see or track. While we could always refine it with more options, we don’t ever want to lose sight of it being fun first.

It’s your loss only tbh, none of the assault/encounters are flat out terrible IMO. It adds variety, and on some maps in those modes you can farm a lot, because some pubbies struggle to adapt to meta of different gamemode :)

Seen the average skill of the playerbase, I think more than “some pubbies” struggle to adapt to anything concerning this game. I had more battles were team went retardmode instead of “most of the guys do the job, some fail”. (Tier 7 battle on Mines Encounter? Five guys camping on hill, I had to go reset vs 3 Tier 7 in my SU-85. Sadly, not uncommon at all.)

And assault is imbalanced. (the very last time I played it in my IS, got Tier 9 assault on Siegfried line, with four Tier 8 TDs. Pushing against hard camping ennemies. Much variety so fun wow.)

Randoms are already terrible enough like this, no need more crap. But it’s cool for you if you enjoy those modes. :)

Encounter can be frustrating, I won’t deny that, but usually only because of fastcaps when you have tank that can’t really reset.

What tends to happen on encounter is majority of tanks gather in some brawling area and rest of the map stays relatively open. It gives slow tanks opportunity to fight and not spend whole battle driving, and paper tanks have most of the map open for vision games/flanking.

Assault I like because it turns the way fight goes by 90 degrees (excluding Erlenberg). It creates a new map basically, because you fight in positions where you don’t really fight in standard modes.

If it is inbalanced…. Sand River IMO favors defenders, especially if there is artillery, if there’s not you can work the mid ridge as attacker and it’s ok. Karelia can be pain to play with paper tank, it favors defenders slightly but not that much. Another 2 are ok.

Also, I’m sorry but you can’t have expectations from tier 7 players and below. Most good players play tier 8 up.

What the comment means is that by turning those modes ON, you reduce your potential map pool. Assault has like only 5 maps or so, but it has a considerable chance to be your chosen game mode.
Encounter is a bit better, but still without all the maps.

RicoPro22: Have you considered operating an official mod store so that you can assure that they are virus-free?

A: Yes, we have definitely considered it. We love our mod-making community and we want to make it easier for players to use mods (while at the same time protecting the players from cheat mods). We are looking into a number of options right now and when we finalise our plans, we will be sure to update everyone.

Me: *looks up from finishing a commission of nude anime girl crew pictures mod*
…….
*looks at the Game of Thrones, Disney, MLP, and various anime crew picture packs*
……
*looks at the various tank skins*

…..ok if WG isn’t allowed to release Fury again cause “copyright”, then they wont be able to host an ingame mod store due to copyrighted art by artists and audio clips from copyrighted works.

and if WG did go for a mod store……the game wouldn’t be 13+ anymore. it would be 21+ due to international gaming laws of having “Adult content in game”. even if its optional.
aka the nude crew picture mod packs people have me make (seriously i’ve been commissioned to make 5 of them thus far..) would be “in” game, not just in the user’s client.

big issues there

and if you think “oh just make it not accessable to users”

When Elderscrolls Oblivion came out, it had a “topless female model” in the files. not being used as it was an idea they discarded, but they forgot to remove it from the files.
the simple fact that the file was IN the game forced them to do a full recall of all copies of Oblivion and release them with the 18+ age rating.

that 18+ age rating is 21+ internationally for games like WoT based in multiple countries.

heres the thing
if WG had a “mod store” most mods would not be allowed.
for example, voice mods of copyrighted audio from movies
music mods from copyrighted songs
skin mods containing pictures from a variety of various artists(even if they give permission to the maker, they didn’t give it to WG.)
even normal mods with no copyrighted content wouldn’t be allowed unless the maker gave his permission.

the issue is, WG makes money off WoT
if they have an in game mod store, it can be argued they are “making money off mods” which would open up lawsuits from all these copyright holders AND THEIR DOGS.

currently, mod makers make no money, and WG doesn’t officially support them IN GAME. This is legal. WG makes no money off mods.
sure they help you make mods, but they have no knowledge to what content the mod has.

if they put it in game, then they are doing so with knowledge of the mod.(which has been a big problem for Bethesda’s fallout 4, specially on console with tons of bans due to content being stolen)
-not to mention numerous lawsuits aimed at bethesda due to people sneaking in nude mods against the xbox’s ToS. which has microsoft fining bethesda.

And if WG only put mods in that didn’t have copyrighted, then the number of mods would be extremely small.(5% at best)
and it would be pointless, as either mods would continue on a client only side. or leave the game.

and even then, if WG blocked all mods outside the “mod store” then they would be inviting Res folder invasions.

Again, most skin and audio mods would simply not get into the store. There are plenty of mods like crosshairs, timers, stats, etc.

The mod store is not about banning things either, it is about ‘officialising’ certain mods so that they are 1 easily accessible to players and 2. guaranteed to be ‘safe’ (both in legality as not being malware).

So yes, mod store can and probably will happen. Your entire argument against it is ‘nudes and copyrights’, and again those simply won’t get in.

Oh.
Well Tenky, let’s not forget that the Hungarian archives MIGHT have more advanced designs hidden somewhere deep.
Perhaps one day we will find and see them, and then we will have ourselves a complete Hungarian tree, with all sorts of tanks that were drafted up once.

“As for the in-game currency, we have considered it, but it is difficult to introduce unified currencies in different MMO projects because they all have different life cycles and economies, so for the time being we plan to keep these separate.”

Simple, they chose not to unify WoWS currency with WoT or WoWP because they want to keep pulling money out of our asses. So they deliberately inflated the economy in WoWS to make it different from the other two games.

yeah if they united the currency i would be rich on WoT, because after that Project R and etc, my money went over 10.000.000+, while in WoT i struggle to keep mine 1k up, but probably is my fault of being lazy to grind credits in premiums. anyway they wont unificate that currency never, maybe only the doublons and gold.